


The Sound of Silence

by FangirlintheForest



Category: A Quiet Place (Movies - Krasinski), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Based on A Quiet Place (Movies), Big Teenage EnergyTM, Blood and Gore, Detention, F/M, First Kiss, Near Death Experiences, Pining, Sexual Tension, Suspense, but Rey is in denial lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:07:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27299158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FangirlintheForest/pseuds/FangirlintheForest
Summary: Simple detention turns into a fight for survival for high school classmates Rey Niima and Kylo Ren.A Reylo 'A Quiet Place' AUReylo Readers & Writers Spooktacular Collection Day 31: Free Day
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 18
Kudos: 48
Collections: Reylo Hidden Gems, Reylo Readers & Writers - The Spooktacular Collection





	The Sound of Silence

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween!!!
> 
> Super excited for y'all to read this! I loved the movie 'A Quiet Place' and when I saw a free day slot for the Spooktacular exchange, I knew I had to write an AU! I hope you enjoy this one-shot!

Rey glares over her shoulder at the dark-haired boy hunching over his textbook. She has another hour of homework hell to endure, and it’s all his fault. It’s not  _ her _ fault he rubs her the wrong way - all his silent staring makes her bristle, makes her feel like some weird charity case being examined under a microscope by the rebellious rich kid. It’s not her fault she couldn’t take anymore and snapped in the middle of class. It’s not.

She sighs loudly as she scribbles in another answer onto her math worksheet. Just one more school year and she can get out of this town. The thought of leaving and traveling to a fresh start sends a thrill through Rey every time it crosses her mind. One more hour and she can collect her phone, leave this building, and go home (if one can call it that) for the weekend. Detention might be his territory, but she doesn’t want to be here for longer than she has to be.

Something taps her shoulder. She whirls around and glares at Kylo, who’s now much closer than she would like. "What?"

His pierced brow furrows at her harsh tone as he pulls back his hand. "Ackbar isn't back yet."

"And I should care, why?"

He gestures at the clock on the wall in front of them. "It's been over half an hour, Rey."

Just as the words leave his lips, a loud scream breaks through the silence of the school. The two of them share a startled look.

Rey turns to peek around the open classroom door from her seat while Kylo abandons his desk in one smooth movement and stalks toward the door. Rey decidedly does not watch the back of his black t-shirt as he walks up and peers out into the hall. As he looks back and forth, Rey gets up to join him. Rey barely manages to move around him, but he grabs her shoulders, holding her in place with surprising strength. 

“Did you see that?” he whispers, his breath hot against the back of her neck. She freezes at the nervous ring in his voice. Then, the power goes out.

She jumps, accidentally, into his chest. All she can hear is their breathing as she frantically wills her eyes to adjust to the darkness. A low thrum echoes through the air, and some of the lights come back on.

At the end of the hallway is a hunched creature with spindly long legs sniffing around the trophy case. Kylo and Rey both hold their breath as the eyeless creature chitters, it’s mouth brimming with long teeth, crystal clear even from their distance. Rey blinks rapidly, stomach sinking in horror as she realizes the creature is not a figment of her imagination.

Rey tries to take a step backward but Kylo isn’t moving. She turns toward him as she shoves against his body weight. He keeps staring ahead, eyes wide as the creature in front of them unfurls a hand tipped with long serrated claws. Part of the armor on either side of its human-shaped head lifts away, revealing fleshy holes where ears would be - except much larger.

They need to move.  _ Now. _ Rey shakes his shoulder gently, gesturing toward the monster and its non-existent eyes. Understanding blossoms in his gaze and she pushes him again, but this time he budges. Gazing past Kylo’s shoulder, Rey notes there are no windows in the classroom. They have to find somewhere else to run. Carefully, they both make their way out of the classroom and down the hall.

Her sneaker squeaks. Instantly, the creature turns and roars directly at them. It may not have eyes, but it’s hearing more than makes up for them.

“Fuck.” Kylo yanks her arm, but she’s already turning and ready to sprint. They run down another hallway lined with lockers. Behind them, the creature screams, gaining fast.

Rey looks backward, just as her feet slip out from under her. Her feet slide through a dark red pool on the smooth floor. She topples to the ground while trying to muffle her horrified yelp. The creature turns to her location, it’s attention fully focused on her. Rey can do little more than freeze in place, trying not to cry as she sits in what remains of their teacher.

Kylo, to his credit, reacts immediately as she falls down. He stops dead in his tracks and throws Ackbar’s discarded, bloodied pen at the metal water fountain on the opposing wall. It hits, the resulting clang echoing loudly. The monster whips around and scuttles toward the drinking station while Rey and Kylo stay very still. It growls, prowling around where the noise came from, before going into an empty classroom.

Rey exhales shakily as Kylo pulls her up from behind, and motions for her to stay quiet as he begins very slowly walking, putting as much distance between them and that  _ thing _ as possible. Rey’s legs feel like jelly with every step, but she follows as Kylo leads her over to a heavy door. He quietly opens it, and gestures for her to get inside before closing it after them. They creep down the cement stairs, and into a dark room. Kylo flicks on the lights as they reach the bottom. There's a gigantic water heater, and a huge humming generator on either side of the room.

Kylo throws himself again a free wall, curling his legs up to his chest with his head leaning back and his eyes closed. If it weren’t for the flaring of his nostrils or controlled breathing, Rey would think he was just relaxing.

She slumps down on her side, curling into herself with her back against the sturdy wall. She curses under her breath trying to hold in the sound.

“They won’t hear,” Kylo sighs at normal volume. Rey lifts her head in shock. He is awkwardly looking at the ceiling, intentionally not looking at her even though they are sitting relatively close. “The boiler and generator should be loud enough for us to talk or…” He trails off before sighing again. “Just don’t yell.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rey replies, getting her shuddering breath back under control. “I don’t care anymore. There’s nowhere to go.”

“You think everyone is gone?” He frowns, not quite believing what she’s sure is the truth.

“The entire city is loud, Kylo! You saw that thing. We weren’t even that loud and it was right  _ there _ , on us the moment we made a sound.” Rey starts talking faster and faster as her thoughts race. “And that was only one! We have no idea how many more are out there!”

“They move by sound,” he states.

“It doesn’t have eyes. I just saw this ear-like thing behind the shell on its head.”

Kylo groans. “Why today? I should have just gone on the stupid trip,” he mumbles under his breath.

“What trip?”

Sighs. “My parent’s anniversary is this weekend, so they were heading to Varykino for the weekend.”

“And you turned them down?” Rey scoffs, judgment oozing from her. A lake getaway with a family sounds like heaven and only reminds her of exactly how they ended up in this mess. In hindsight, starting a yelling match with him and insulting his family was probably not the best move.

He looks up and glares at her.

She knows that look. She’s sure she’s worn that same expression many times before. He’s scared and doesn’t want to admit it. He doesn’t know what happened to his family. She doesn’t know too much about them because he never talks about them, and even calls himself by a different name. Everyone knows he has problems at home, and he may pretend otherwise, but, somewhere inside, she’s sure he cares about them and is worried sick. If she had a family, she would feel the same.

“Hey, it’s okay,” she says, softly. “It’s quiet up there, right? They’re probably safer than we are here.”

Kylo nods, unconvinced.

“You’ll see them again.”

“We’d need to get out of this damn school first,” Kylo grumbles.

“We’ll need supplies,” Rey continues, ignoring his pessimism. “We can look around and get stuff from the classrooms before we go to the mountains.”

“Do you even know what we’ll need?”

Rey snorts, pointing to herself. “Foster kid, remember? Scavenging is kinda what I do. You know how to get to Varykino from here?”

“If we get that far, yes.”

“Good.” Rey curls up again.

They’ve finally reached a comfortable silence when her stupid stomach decides to growl. She curls up tighter, hoping he didn’t hear.

She hears a subtle rustle and looks up to see Kylo plucking a protein bar from his jeans’ pocket. He wordlessly places it on the ground, and with a flick of his wrist slides it toward her. Rey leans forward and picks it up, immediately tearing the packaging and taking a massive bite out of the top. She moans. It tastes SO much better than the cheap ones she sometimes gets from the dollar mart. She looks over at Kylo, barely catching him awkwardly averting his eyes.

She stops, looking down at the bar. In a hastily made decision, she snaps the bottom half off and leaves it in the foil. She slides it back over to Kylo, avoiding his eyes but hearing him pick it up and start eating too.

* * *

They don’t really sleep, it’s more like drifting. There’s also the undeniable edge of fear to every breath they take. After an unknown amount of time, Rey sits up, unable to take anymore.

The generator is still humming away next to her - everything about it foreign to her eyes. She considers herself a good mechanic - when it comes to cars. However, these dials and buttons and pressure gauges mean absolutely nothing to her.

Against the other wall, Kylo stirs.

“How long do you think this thing will run?”

Kylo yawns, wiping a hand across his face and pushing his long hair away. “A couple of weeks at most. Probably less.”

Rey sighs. That’s more time than she was thinking, but the knowledge that the deadline is unknown sits like a lead weight in her chest.

Kylo, on the other hand, looks unbothered as can be. “What do we need from upstairs?” he groans, stretching his arms above his head.

“Backpacks, food, water, flashlights,” Rey lists off the first things that come to mind. “Those are the essentials. Any other useful things we see along the way, like a first aid kit or duct tape, would be fantastic.”

“So we’re going to have to break into lockers.” Kylo doesn’t look exactly thrilled with that notion. To be fair, Rey doesn’t like the sound of it either. She can’t think of a way to do that without making a ton of noise.

“We could always try the lost and found near the office?” she offers. There are usually a few items there, albeit old and hideous most of the time.

He nods in agreement. “That could work.”

“Do you think we can get there without being able to talk? What if something happens?” It’s a thought that’s been sitting in the back of her head since their last brush with danger.

Kylo stares off into space for a moment before replying. “Leave it to me. I’ll come up with something.”

Rey resists the urge to snort. She’s not counting on it.

As they walk up the basement steps, Rey becomes extremely aware of the soles of their shoes meeting the metal stairs. Under normal circumstances, they would be completely fine for sneaking around. Rey has snuck out from under Plutt’s nose enough times to know how loud is too loud for the average person. However, the average person does not have otherworldly hearing like these creatures seem to have. Their shoes are too noisy to get anything done quickly, or safely.

Rey stops three stairs from the door. Kylo almost runs into her, instead of steadying himself as she bends over in front of him and starts taking off her shoes. A little bit of skin flashes in front of his eyes as her top rides up in the back while she shucks off her beat-up sneakers. He averts his eyes quickly, feeling his face heat up. He knows she hates him, and he would rather die than have her realize he was looking at her with anything other than a cool casualty.

“We should take off our shoes,” she whispers over her shoulder without looking. “They’re too loud.” She removes her socks as well, stuffing them into her shoes.

“You think barefoot is the way to go?” he asks, already starting to take off his as well.

“It makes  _ much _ less noise. I didn’t see anything else broken besides the trophy case, so we don’t have to worry really.”

Kylo isn’t nearly as optimistic, but he keeps his thoughts to himself. He coughs awkwardly instead, trying hard not to think about a certain flash of freckled skin. He stops as he starts to take his socks off. “Shouldn’t we keep our socks on? They’ll muffle our steps on the linoleum.”

Rey shrugs instead of arguing for her original plan like he thought she would. “Good point.” She slips her socks back on before standing upright and turning slightly to look back at him. “Ready?”

He nods, not quite looking her in the eye. She opens the door.

The hallway is still and empty. After a moment’s pause, Rey forces herself out of the doorway with Kylo following behind. He carefully closes the heavy door behind them, ensuring nothing gets into their stronghold while they’re gone.

She goes into the first open classroom she can see. Her first stop is the teacher's desk. She scoops up a container full of paper clips first. It could be useful later.

Kneeling down, she tries to open the drawers but they’re all firmly locked. She catches herself right before she makes a loud huff of frustration. She looks around, but there’s not much else to grab that doesn’t require a key.

Kylo walks in, holding a notebook and pencil. Rey glares at him, looking at his haul. She’s been earnestly searching and  _ this _ is all he could find? He looks inquisitively at her and she points at the notebook and gestures but he doesn’t seem to understand. Rey could scream - and she would if it didn’t mean instant death.

Kylo holds up a finger, motioning for her to wait. Rey folds her arms impatiently as he carefully opens the notebook and writes something down. As he turns the page to her, she understands and her anger somewhat disappears.

_ I told you I’d come up with something. _

She snatches the notebook from him as noiselessly as she can and scribbles down a quick reply.

_ Everything is  _ _ locked _ _! Do you know if they keep keys around here somewhere? _

He takes back the notebook.

_ What makes you think I know the answer to that? _

_ Everyone knows you go to the principal's office like, once a week minimum.  _ _  
_ _ Do you know if there are keys or not? _

He clenches his jaw as he reads her blunt reply, but she levels him with a hard stare. Now is not the time for him to be playing games.

_ I’ve seen them in the office. It was open when we got here. _

_ Good. Let’s go. _

Rey pushes the notebook and pencil into Kylo’s hands before walking out of the classroom. Back down the hallway, they go, following the twists and turns before reaching the glass walls and door to the administrative office.

The door is closed, but some of the lights are still on. Rey waits for Kylo to catch up before carefully opening the door.

Everything looks surprisingly normal, but as Rey goes around behind the reception desk, it looks like someone could have been sitting there working mere minutes ago. She suppresses a shudder. She hasn’t really taken time to think about what happened to the other people in the building, and she’s not going to start now. If she does, she won’t be able to keep going.

Kylo looks beyond displeased to be here. He sits very quickly, a movement that seems second nature to him. Rey goes over and snatches the notebook from his hands.

_ Why are you sitting? Where are the keys? _

_ I don’t know. Why don’t you go look for them? _

_ You’re kidding. I thought you said you knew where they were! _

_ I said I  _ _ saw _ _ them in here. That doesn’t mean they are here now. _

Rey’s patience is wearing quite thin. Kylo is being way too casual about all of this, considering they’re trapped with actual monsters. She pushes the notebook into his hands with a little extra force than necessary and nearly throws the pencil at him. He almost doesn’t catch it but she can’t bring herself to care.

The computer behind the desk is off - courtesy of the power going out. There’s a few items of paperwork sitting at the desk, sticky notes, and a half-full bottle of water. The chair is turned like someone just got out of it intent on returning. Rey has no use for these things. Instead, she walks past the desk to the little nook in the shelving where they keep the small assortment of lost and found.

There’s a beat-up blue backpack and a red duffle bag. Rey takes both. She also finds a scarf and a pair of mismatched mittens, and two knitted hats. She puts both in the duffle bag along with two random pullovers that look faded and decades old. She walks over to Kylo, and dumps the duffle bag on his lap, carefully this time, before heading back behind the desk.

Opening the backpack is slow business but eventually, she opens it all the way and sets it on the empty chair. She turns back toward the desk, hands on her hips. The keys have to be around here somewhere.

After a few minutes of hard searching, Rey has to admit the keys are not here. She begrudgingly holds in her frustration. She looks around the room blankly as inspiration strikes - maybe the keys are in the Principal's office.

She waves her hands to get Kylo’s attention and exaggeratedly points toward the door. He gets up just as she quietly opens it.

The air smells stale, like paper and furniture. Rey creeps across the room straight for the desk while Kylo swallows, entering and glancing around uncomfortably. To her surprise, he comes and stands right next to her. He fidgets as she quietly opens and closes drawers.

The school creaks and suddenly Kylo’s hand is clenching her shoulder. Without thinking, Rey puts a hand on his leg almost as if in reply as she opens another drawer. He immediately jerks back and hits the desk on accident with a loud thump. They both stay put, holding still and barely breathing. They wait for a monster to come, but nothing does. After a few moments, Rey slowly removes her hand and resumes her search of the drawers.

Bingo - the keys shine at her from inside the next drawer. She taps his leg hesitantly, as she holds up the keys in triumph. She stands up, ignoring the fact that his hand is outstretched in help. Too much contact for one day.

She takes a pen and sticky note from across the desk.

_ Let’s go back. We can get stuff from the lab tomorrow. _

Kylo nods at her, eagerly beating her out of the office but then lets her take the lead as they slowly walk down the hallway toward the boiler room.

Rey keeps waiting for something to happen. It’s been suspiciously quiet for far too long. Are they really going to make it back with no incidents? The door is mere feet away now. She turns around to motion for Kylo to hurry up but instead stops dead in her tracks.

Kylo is ten feet behind her, standing utterly still. Behind him, almost leaning over his shoulder, is one of the growling creatures.

Rey is seized with a tidal wave of sheer panic as her body goes cold. Kylo is visibly much paler than normal, and the utter fear in his eyes twists knots in her stomach. Beads of sweat are visible on his forehead. Rey can feel her palms grow sweaty just watching the creature as it growls again, placing a clawed hand even closer to him. She doesn’t even have anything small enough to throw as a distraction. 

They make eye contact and Kylo’s eyes flicker away and then back at her. He does it again, watching her intently as she follows his gaze to the boiler room door behind her. Her eyes go wide. He can’t be serious. She slightly shakes her head but he frowns at her, glancing again at the door firmly.

She takes a step backward toward the cracked opening. Then another, then another. As she places a hesitant hand on the doorknob, she swears she sees relief in his teary eyes.

She is loath to do this, but she opens the door silently and slips inside. Step by step, she slowly makes her way down the stairway until she reaches the bottom. She sets down her backpack before she herself slumps to the ground.

For the first time in this horrific nightmare, Rey lets herself feel. She cries. She cries thinking of her parents and how they left her alone. She cries thinking of Kylo and how she had to leave  _ him _ alone as her parents did her. The guilt comes from all angles and she can’t stop thinking of how it’s all her fault, always her fault. She’s been doing everything by herself, but this? This might be the thing she can’t do without someone. The realization is shattering.

Above her, she hears the telltale noise of the door clicking shut, and she can’t help but sob in fear this time. She has nothing to defend herself with, and nowhere to go.

Then the sound of footsteps on the stairs tear her eyes from her arms as Kylo walks down, shaken but alive. She cries harder as she throws herself into his arms with little to no thought of the consequences. There’s a muffled noise of surprise from him when she pulls his face down towards hers and kisses him in sheer utter relief. Letting go, she squeezes his chest, comforted by the warmth and the beating of his heart. His arms slowly wrap around her as he hugs her back comfortingly, his chin dropping to rest on the top of her head.

“How did you get away?” Her voice cracks but she doesn’t care.

“My phone rang. It must have fallen out somewhere before Ackbar-” Kylo doesn’t finish, but Rey understands. 

At some point, they sit down, and Rey falls asleep in exhaustion with her head resting on his shoulder, his thumb rubbing comforting circles into her arm as he pulls her closer to his side.

* * *

Rey wakes up with a wicked kink in her neck. She sits up, looking down, and seeing her pillow during the night was Kylo’s duffle bag. Kylo himself is still asleep next to her. She watches his chest rise and fall, quickly deciding not to wake him. She has to stop herself from brushing her hand across the worry lines on his forehead. What is this feeling? She shakes her head and sits up, curling her knees toward her as Kylo snuffles adorably in his sleep.

Damn him. She will not think about how she was the one who kissed him. On the lips. A pair of very nice lips. This time, she lets herself loudly huff in frustration as her face threatens to burst into flames with heat.

Rey forces herself up, yawning and stretching at the first sign of Kylo waking up. Once his head is off the duffle bag, she pulls it toward her and opens it, pulling everything out. She does the same to the backpack. Next, she starts dividing up the supplies, making sure each bag has an equal amount. Kylo helps her, packing the duffle back with speed as she hands him items silently. When they’re done, she stands and puts on the backpack.

“Ready?” she tries not to sound too awkward but isn’t so sure she succeeds. Kylo nods and they head up the stairs. Rey looks back before opening the door. Kylo looks uncomfortable but seems like he’s trying to hold it together. He catches her eye, and the corner of his mouth twitches. Is he trying to comfort her? Rey turns around and pushes the door open. Better to get this over with.

The hallway is blessedly empty and they are able to get to the lab without any incidents, even with Rey moving slowly due to her hypervigilance after yesterday's incident.

Rey unlocks the door after three tries and then closes the door behind them. She grabs Kylo’s hand, placing the keys in them, and points toward the cabinets lining the room. He nods, and she heads over toward the front desk.

Before she reaches her destination, she spies the first aid kit on the wall and smiles in spite of herself. Lowering her backpack onto the ground, she pulls the kit away from the wall and gently places the whole thing inside her bag. It’s almost too good to be true. Hopefully, their luck doesn’t run out anytime soon. They’re going to need it.

With considerably higher spirits, Rey goes to the desk, snatching up some sticky notes and pencils for good measure. She finds some gloves and a lighter in the next drawer, probably from past experiments. She shakes her head in disbelief as she pulls some now-useless posters from the wall to put away for future kindling. She goes to one of the closer cabinets and finds the teacher's secret stash of candy and granola bars. She waves her arms at Kylo, and he looks over, grinning awkwardly in response.

He opens another cabinet, and suddenly glass beaker after glass beaker tumbles out to the ground. He stumbles backward in surprise, and bumps into the desk behind him, sending two chairs clattering to the floor. Two of the full beakers he was holding shatter to the ground and immediately begin to smoke visibly. The roars in the distance are instant.

Rey meets his horrified eyes. “We’ve got to go,” she says, right as the sprinkler system goes off, and a fire alarm starts blaring. Lunging forward, she grabs his arm and pushes him around the chemical puddle, and yanks him out the door just as a creature bursts through the back door of the classroom and starts to scramble after them.

They sprint through the hallways, the noise they make not mattering as the alarm shrieks from above. They round a corner and the school entrance is right ahead. 

Rey and Kylo burst through the front doors into the silence outside. Rey immediately plasters herself to the wall next to the stairs, barely even breathing for the sake of staying still. She turns her head just as one of the creatures emerges from inside the school. She sees Kylo out of her periphery, he is staring straight ahead, pale once again., his close encounter still fresh in his mind The creature sniffs the air, growling deeply as drool drips from its sharp teeth. After a few moments, it scuttles back inside. Rey waits for about a minute before exhaling and stepping away from the wall. Kylo takes his own deep breath, looking very relieved as he does.

There’s a whole town between them and the mountains in the distance. It’s a whole lot of walking. On the other side of the sidewalk, Kylo extends his hand toward her just before she takes her first step forward.

She pauses and then takes it. 

As their fingers intertwine, Rey looks ahead. Together, she’s sure they can make it.

**Author's Note:**

> So what did you think? :D Comments are always appreciated! Thank you so much for reading!


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